Post 9/11, Highest Military Honor Grows Scarce

The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have produced only five recipients of the Medal of Honor, all of whom died as a result of their heroism, the Military Times reports. Pentagon stinginess with the highest military honor in the post-9/11 era frustrates service members who say a politicized, stringent, and lengthy review process has denied recognition to some who deserve it.

In the previous century, around two to three Medals of Honor were awarded per 100,000 servicemen. That has dropped to literally one in a million. Some credit the nature of this decade’s wars—“It’s hard to be a hero against an IED,” said a retired Army officer.  But others point to exceptionally narrow criteria and a review process quick to deny awards proposed for non-military reasons. "They decided that the Medal of Honor should go not only to people who are brave, but pure,” said one former Marine.
(More Medal of Honor stories.)